Seeing the Other Side of the World
by livingthelife37
Summary: (Not set after any specific book, but includes most characters mentioned.) A regular mortal, Kim McClarent, happens to meet the seven demigods and realises that she can see through the Mist. Her encounter with the monsters lurking in the shadows changes her life greatly and opens a door to true friendship, love and the other side of the world.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue- Introduction of character**

This may seem like a lousy introduction, but my name is Kim. I recently turned sixteen three weeks ago. I'm a pretty average schoolgirl, I think.

My family has never been a favourite topic of mine. I guess I differ from the majority by saying that I don't favour having rich and famous parents. My father is Derek McClarent and he owns one of the largest oil companies in upstate New York. I was actually born in Florida, but because of Dad's huge business, we had to move. Do I miss my friends? I never had any permanent ones so far. Most of them hang around me just because of my dad's reputation so they come and go very easily.

My mother's birth name is Abigail Newman. She has one of the most beautiful faces I've ever seen, with the most luxurious blonde hair and the most amazing blue eyes. It's apparent that she's pretty. She's one of the top models in a fashion modeling business. Both my dad and mom are thirty-nine this year and they are rarely home, so I have two elder sisters for company.

Skye is three years my senior and she's the only one amongst us who takes after Mom, which makes her pretty and popular at her school. She's one of the head cheerleaders and you could say that boys are all over her. In her spare time, she bakes cookies for us and goes for horse-riding lessons with me too. She's like a part-time mother. Rosalie is a year younger than Skye but not nearly as nice. She hasn't been too friendly to me and claims that I destroyed a very important project of hers when I was a baby, not that I remember. It has always driven her mad that she and I are both brunettes like Dad, even though she has Mom's eyes. She just loves making stuff hard for me.

As for me, I'm the only one who looks like Dad. I attend normal school and I'm also a student in a prestigious arts academy. Not that I wish to brag, but after each picture I paint and each music performance, I have to admit I'm rather satisfied with myself. I love dancing too and I learn hip-hop in the academy as well. During my free time, I help Skye bake and I horse-ride and swim. I play a little badminton in that big indoor court below our even bigger house with Mom at times. As for my favourite subjects, -I guess I can be a nerd- I love all three sciences, literature and ancient history, which includes intriguing things like Greek mythology.

Chapter ONE

_Theseus and the Minotaur._

I rubbed my eyes. It was probably the fifth time I was reading that. I needed a break. Just a few weeks after my sixteenth birthday, I took a sudden strong interest in those Greek myths and was starting to think I was infected with some sort of addiction disease. I snapped the book shut and placed it carefully on the shelf before walking to the window, only to find myself staring down the busy road. Well, since we stayed on landed property, we weren't granted nice scenic views of the entire city. I was given the bedroom on the lowest floor with the smallest space. Lucky, aren't I?

"Kim! _What _are you doing in your room? It's twelve-thirty in the afternoon! Come outside and have your lunch!" my mother called from the living room. Typical of her to shout about the house –it was _huge _anyway. Sighing, I pulled away from the window and trudged out.

"You're not _still _obsessed with those myths, are you, you geek?" Rosalie sneered as soon as I sat down at the dining table. I shot her a look.

"Enough! It's Kim's interest and you shouldn't make fun of it, Rose!" Skye chided. She smiled at me and slid into the seat between Dad and Rosalie. Of course, Rosalie was scowling at Skye for her comment. After Mom glided into the room -like a model- and sat down, we said our prayers and dug into our spaghetti and juice.

I was the first to finish. When I was bent over washing my plate and cup in the sink, I happened to glance out the window. What I saw nearly made me drop my porcelain plate but I caught it at the last second, saving myself from getting grounded for three months if I had broken it, but I couldn't tear my eyes away. Thick black smoke was billowing out of a tall building just a few blocks down where my arts academy was supposed to be located.

At that moment, I realized two things. First, it _was _my arts academy. Second, it was on fire.

**Author's note: Hey! This is my first story ever and I hope you enjoy reading it! I will upload more chapters. Please remember to review as it means a lot to me! **

**Thank you! :)**

**-livingthelife37**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter TWO

Naturally, that drove me mad. I loved my arts academy. I couldn't stand it on fire. But _why_ was it on fire? It had seemed like a huge one to me. Who in the right mind would _do_ such a thing? I shoved my wallet and bottle into my backpack and swung it across my shoulder. I had to investigate.

Mom stared at me in disbelief when I tried to make up an excuse for leaving the house. "I have, um, an extra dance lesson today and… I forgot to tell you."

"Your trainer didn't inform me."

"She left that to me."

"You're not in your costume." Shit.

I looked down at my clothes. "It's in my bag." Mom gave me a stern look. "I just need to check, um, some… dates. I promise I'll get back by… two." It was one-forty. Mom sighed and gestured for me to go. Without looking back, I sprinted down the sun-baked pavement.

A large group was already gathering. Some were calling out and flustered people were fleeing from the burning building. I squinted and tilted my head up, careful to avoid the sun's harsh glare. Smoke was still pouring into the air steadily. I swept my eyes across the mass. A few were dialling for the fire crew but it was apparent that it hadn't arrived yet. I was curious. I was being naïve. But time was still on my side. I took a deep breath and dashed into the very building people had fled from. _I need a mental health check-up._

I was already coughing when I got in. My eyes were watering and my throat itched badly. I was about to exit, get some fresh air, dash home and cool off in my room instead of suffocating in the humid acrid atmosphere, but I spotted someone in the far corner. I hurried over.

"Hey!" I spluttered uselessly, waving my arms. "Are you crazy? What are you doing in this fire? Come on out now!" The person's head snapped up instantly, eyes wide. It was a girl, no older than sixteen like me. She had chocolate-brown hair, which was a lighter shade compared to mine, and eyes that seemed to flicker from green to blue.

And she was _seriously _pretty.

She was wearing a dirty orange snowboarding jacket and torn jeans, giving her a "runaway" appearance. Even so, I found myself envying her messy tangled braids. When she saw me, she gasped and leapt to her feet. She pulled at something lying on the ground and I realized with a jolt that it was an unconscious teenager. He had close-cropped blonde hair and even features. There was blood trickling down the left side of his face. Now how did he bang his head so hard?

"Wait. What happened? How did he get hurt? You _really _should go now!" I choked. But as soon as the words left my lips, the smoke seemed to lose its pungent odour. The crackling of flames went silent. The firemen were probably putting out the fire. The girl looked around and a strange smile danced across her full lips. She looked at me suspiciously and narrowed her eyes. Then she hauled the boy to his feet and hobbled away quickly.

I went after her. "Wait! Where are you going? That isn't the way out! Hey!" She just kept hobbling over to the area where the smoke had come from. Wow. She was even more in need of that mental health check-up than I was. And then I saw it.

_It _was a three meter tall dog. Wait… It wasn't even _close. _It was so horrible I had to cower in terror at the sight of it. It was a monster. I ducked under a random table and tried to steady my racing heartbeat. I hadn't seen it. It was just an illusion. It wasn't there.

Then it roared.

I gasped and stole a cautious glance at it. When I saw its full enormous body, I probably felt more shocked than afraid. I recognized this monster, didn't I? In fact, I even _read_ about it. But it couldn't really exist in the real world.

Could it?

The creature turned and its head swung in my direction.

I was staring into the beady eyes of a fire-breathing Chimera, the son of the Echidna.

**Author's note: Hey all! :) Thanks for following my story! I do hope you're enjoying it so far! Please review and recommend if you can!**

**Thanks for your support!**

**-livingthelife37**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter THREE

_That must have been the reason to the fire!_

Okay, that was probably a bad first thought. Most would go like, _oh, no! A monster! Run! _But I was more shocked than frightened. I had been studying about "myths", even _thinking _they were "myths", and that split-second when I saw the Chimera, everything changed. They were real. The monsters existed. Maybe the gods did too. And what about demigods? Were they hiding among us as well? Then the Chimera lunged.

I froze.

I couldn't do anything. I was immobilized. Some part of me was yelling hysterically at me to fling the table I was under at the Chimera, or at least use some form of distraction so I could get the heck out of there. But I did something else infinitely more heroic.

I screamed.

The good thing was that milliseconds before the monster could rip out my throat, a swift flash of silver appeared behind it and stabbed it. A sharp object broke through the middle of its hideous chest; the gleaming silver tip of a blade. The bad thing was that, like all other monsters, it burst into dust and rained down upon me. I probably looked something like one of King Midas's golden statues with that much monster dust clinging onto me.

"Get out of here. Run!" a voice said. I looked up. It was a boy of sixteen like me. He had curly, greasy black hair and dark eyes. His face was smudged with dirt and something that looked suspiciously like black mud. Cuts and scrapes crawled up his arms and cheeks. The scratches along the hem of his jeans reminded me of claw marks. He was wielding a long weapon; a sword.

And I had to admit that he was kind of cute, in a scruffy way

He sort of stared at me for a while and I stared stupidly back. Neither of us said anything. Then I happened to glance down at my watch and realized that it was sixteen minutes past two. _My promise._ I had promised Mom to return home by two o'clock sharp.

Uh oh.

I was about to text her saying I was sorry, but I realized I didn't pack my cell phone. How bad a day was it going to turn out to be?

"Hey, Leo. We got to go." The voice sounded feminine. It was the stunning girl who had spoken. She glanced at me distractedly and tapped the boy's shoulder. I crawled out of my hiding spot and dusted at myself. _Going so soon?_

"No. You are not leaving until you give me a logical explanation as to _what just happened back there_." I told them firmly, leveling the girl with a look I hoped seemed as confident as I wanted to feel.

The guy called Leo looked at me with an expression on his face, like sympathy. "Listen," he told me. "You probably won't understand what happened. But here's the story. The building caught fire because someone forgot to turn off the kitchen stove and we decided to put out the fire. The end," he finished simply. I narrowed my eyes.

"You think I'm a fool?" I challenged him.

Just then, the familiar wail of the fire engine sirens pierced the air. Baffled, I looked distractedly out of a broken window and saw the red vehicle speeding towards us. _What?_ How was the fire put out then? If I hadn't seen anything, I would probably believe Leo's story. It was a good explanation as to what he was doing here, why he had come and why the flames were extinguished before the fire engine arrived. Except for one thing.

I _had _seen it. And there was no way the Chimera could have been a hallucination. Golden monster dust scattered the marble floor. That was proof Leo _did _stab it.

The girl and Leo exchanged looks at my reply. They seemed surprised, shocked and anxious all at the same time, like they were worried about me seeing what happened. Now that was strange.

"Piper… Do you think…?" Leo began, but his voice trailed away and his gaze fixed on me. The girl, Piper, looked at me. In a soft tone, she asked, "What did you see exactly?"

I had to keep myself from scoffing. I wasn't blind. "I saw a Chimera…" I started. Then realization dawned upon me. Why hadn't I thought of it? Piper and Leo took a step back at the same time.

"We should really tell Annabeth about this. The Mist… I think she can _see," _Piper breathed. Suddenly, the look on her face wasn't suspicion. It was wonder, like I was rare object she had never come across before. Maybe I was.

"Mist? You mean like…the natural kind?" I questioned warily, noticing the funny stares they were shooting me. Leo seemed to be studying me and his unmoving gaze was unsettling.

"The Mist. It's a veil that prevents mortals…" Piper stopped abruptly and Leo turned to glare at her. _Mortals?_

That was the last clue I needed to confirm my suspicions. The Chimera, the wielding of weapons like Leo's sword, the way he fought as though he'd been _trained _to do so and the way Piper had said "mortals" as though they were of a different race all clicked into place. I came up with my best straightforward guess.

"You're demigods," I said.

**Author's note: Hi all! I hope you've been enjoying the story so far! I will be uploading Chapter 4 soon! Please remember to review and recommend the story if you like it!**

**Thanks once again! **

**-livingthelife37**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter FOUR

They stared incredulously at me. But before they could say anything, a tall athletic-looking blonde jogged over.

"Piper, Leo! We seriously need to leave now!" the girl called. Then she spotted me and frowned. "Who is…?"

By then, I could see her face clearly. Like Piper and Leo, she was covered in dirt and grime. She had a pair of startlingly stormy grey eyes that seemed to gleam with intelligence and intimidation. When she cast her eyes upon me, the grey collided with caramel so intensely I had to look away.

Anyone could tell that she was a leader.

"A-Annabeth, Pipes and I think she can…she can…_see_," Leo stuttered without taking his eyes off me. I felt like a guinea pig trapped in a laboratory with three crazy scientists examining me as though they'd never seen me before. "And she knows. She called us demigods…"

Annabeth's eyes burned into mine again. She looked down at the monster dust on the floor and back at me. "What did you see? I want nothing but the truth, understand?" she said. She spoke with an edge of harshness and curt that made me want to salute to her. I took a deep breath and told her about the Chimera who almost pulverized me if not for Leo. After I was done, Annabeth exhaled slowly and shook her head. She turned to Piper and Leo, who were watching her and told them, "Like Rachel and Percy's mom."

The confusion in their faces cleared up, as if what Annabeth had said made perfect sense, but it _didn't._

Annabeth studied me silently again. "What's your name?"

"Kim."

"Well, Kim, you'd better come with us. I don't want to risk anything." The she turned abruptly and strode off like it was the end of our conversation.

I must have looked pretty confused, because Piper suddenly softened and smiled at me. "Don't worry. We're not your enemies. You should meet the other four." So there were _seven_ demigods? Even so, I let Piper lead me to where Annabeth was heading with Leo trailing behind.

Four teenagers –three guys and one girl- were gathered at a corner. I instantly recognized the blonde boy who had been unconscious previously. He looked up and regarded me with sky blue eyes. Well, he was kind of hot too, but something about him seemed to make him appear unapproachable. All four were digging into plastic bags filled with crushed yellow cubes that resembled jelly. With everything that I had seen, I was ready to believe that they weren't normal food either.

"Um… Who's that?" the girl questioned. She looked as old as the rest of us, with curly hair, dark eyes and skin the colour of cocoa. "This is Kim, Hazel. She can see through the Mist. Annabeth suggested we bring her along. We don't want to risk anyone finding out." Piper explained.

I snapped back to reality after hearing her words.

"Bring me along? To where? Listen, my family is waiting for me and I am twenty minutes late. I can't follow you to wherever you guys are about to go!" I said. One of the boys stood. He had a mob of black hair and eyes that were unbelievably sea-green in colour. When he walked up to me, I could faintly detect the smell of an ocean.

"Your family is waiting?" he asked. I nodded slowly. H turned back to Annabeth. "You know, Wise Girl, she's got a point. Unless…" He turned back to me. "You okay with disappearing for a while?" I thought about it.

A period of time with a bunch of demigods would mean no Rosalie, no naggings, no school. It sounded rather good to me. Maybe…

"Well, if you promise not to kill me or something, then yeah, it's fine," I joked. Then the boy looked very seriously at me. "Trust me, _we _wouldn't be the ones killing you," he said. "I'm Percy. That's Hazel," he told me, gesturing to the girl with curly hair and she smiled. "That's Jason." He pointed to the blonde guy who lowered his eyes at his name. "And that is Frank!"

Frank had a strange appearance. His face could easily belong to a regular thirteen-year-old, yet he was stocky and muscular like a wrestler. It was hard to tell his age, but I assumed he was around sixteen too.

Annabeth stalked up to Percy's side. "And now, let us introduce you to our ship, the Argo 2."

**Author's note: Heyos! Thanks for reading! Please remember to R and R! Thanks again!**

**-livingthelife37**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter FIVE

There was only one word to describe the Argo 2.

_Indescribable._

It was unlike anything I'd ever seen in my life. Then again, just a few moments ago, I never thoughts Greek myths would just fly off my textbook pages and collide with reality. Apparently, according to the scary blonde Annabeth, I was a mortal (I _hate _being called that!) who could see through the Mist, a magical veil clouding the vision of almost every mortal. Well, there were some, like me, who could see through it, and this explains the Chimera.

And according to all the seven demigods I had befriended, these mortals led pretty tough lives, walking the thin line that separated the normal life without the monsters and the normal life _with _the monsters.

I had never made a good listener before, but when each demigod told me their story, I found myself believing every single word they said. But I sort of _wanted _them to be true. My old school life was nothing but boring. And my home was…

As this thought crossed my mind, I felt myself panic. How long had it been? Wouldn't Mom and Dad be calling the police officers by now? But I decided to check the news later and listen to the last story.

Leo's.

Leo wasn't exactly _cute _cute. He wasn't as big and buff as the Asian guy Frank. Neither was he as striking and regal as the blonde dude Jason or as attention-grabbing as Annabeth's love Percy, who inherited his intense sea-green eyes from Poseidon (heck, yeah, I know that now, and I also know about Piper and Jason, Hazel and Frank.)

Leo just seemed easy and approachable. His story saddened me and made me like-no, _admire_-him more. I mean, he lost his mom when he was so young and he built the best ship I'd ever seen? Needless to say, I was impressed. After the story, I threatened to smack myself if that thought _ever_ crossed my mind again.

_I think I have a crush on him._

…_._

The extra cabin Leo installed for me was perfectly cozy. The temperature adjusted just to my liking and the fluffy, unbelievably soft pillows were made of pegasus down.

This reminded me that a flying horse would be one of the many creatures I wanted to see, after the aurae and the Nereids and the tree nymphs and a bunch of other creatures my … friends had recommended.

Was I actually making friends? True blue friends, who knew nothing about my family, yet they were as nice to me as those who did?

It was hard to comprehend that. I lay awake in bed thinking. Did Leo regard me as just a friend?

When he told me his story, he seemed to redden under my gaze and when he told me he had gotten my cabin ready… oh, man. I closed my eyes and replayed the moment in my head.

"_Hey, um, Kim?" Leo asks. I turn. He's wearing a white top and black trousers. He takes a step towards me, running a hand through his messy ruffled black hair. He's about an inch taller and he looks great._

"_Uh, yeah?" I manage. Leo pinks ducks his head and shuffles his hi-tops. _

"_Well… I installed your cabin. It's next to mine…um… I mean, it's the last one down the corridor. If there's anything you need, you can come to me. I mean, any of us. We're your…friends," he stutters, looking more and more embarrassed. I can feel my cheeks burning madly. I quickly say my thanks and start off, but Leo calls me back. He stands there for a while, staring at me._

"_Goodnight," he says at last and his footsteps turn into an echo._

Just thinking about that made me smile. _Maybe Leo won't just be a friend. Maybe he'd be… _My smile melted off myface. He was half-god and I was a mortal with no super abilities. I was thinking too far. I closed my eyes and drifted into oblivion, into a dream full of hopeful possibilities but with a background glinting with harsh reality.

...

I awoke to someone shaking me wildly. My eyes snapped open instantly and I found myself looking into Hazel's amber pupils. Her expression was frantic. I frowned. What was going on?

She sprang to her feet. "First of all," she said, "you sleep like a pig. Second, check out the news program in New York. It is _not _good." Then she went back outside.

I kicked off my blankets and dashed outside. All seven demigods were staring intently at the blaring screen. I moved closer to check out what was wrong. And then I saw it gasped.

The headlines read, "Arts Academy on Fire". Number of injuries? Zero. Death cases? One.

Annabeth was right. Mortals saw what they wanted to, believed what they could, understood only the possible and arrived at false conclusions, deceived by the Mist. They were wrong -_so _wrong. I turned my eyes back to the name entered under the death cases section.

It read, "Kim McClarent".

….

I didn't have the heart to do anything else after that. I washed up, walked and ate the way a zombie would. My parents and sisters and everyone else thought I was _dead._ The first thing I said that day was, "I wish I could make them forget."

All seven stared at me for a while. Then Piper's face lit up.

"Kim, you are amazing!" she exclaimed in excitement, looking over at Jason and Leo. The duo looked baffled, the slowly, they nodded in understanding. Piper looked back at me, grinning. "You saved yourself! You're a _genius_!"

I blinked. "I am?" I asked.

Piper rummaged through her bag and brought out a clear crystal vial. There were still a few tiny droplets of pink liquid inside it. My stomach churned. Why was it _pink_? Piper then explained to me that it was a memory erasing potion.

"It makes people forget what happened for the last hour or so. Kim, you can still go home!" she told me.

"So that means… If you can get the entire of New York to drink _that,_ my family will think I'm alive and at the same time, they'd still remember me," I summed up. I stared at Piper. "And you're calling _me _a genius!" Piper winked.

"Except there's one big catch," Annabeth sighed despondently. Everyone looked at her in confusion. She pointed at the vial. "That potion was retrieved from Medea's sewer mall. But it's already collapsed and the vial is as good as empty. How are we going to get more?" Annabeth asked.

We stared back at the vial in Piper's hand, as if noticing it for the first time. Piper's shoulders sagged. "Oh. Missed that," she muttered. All of a sudden, her shoulders straightened again and she looked around with confidence.

"Not to worry, guys! It's still possible!" Piper reached for her Cornucopia (A horn she got from a river god and can summon almost any kind of consumable goods). "I'll need this and my vial."

Percy snorted. "How is _that_ going to help?" Piper rolled her eyes.

"Trust me! I have a plan!"

**Author's note: Hey all! Sorry for taking so long to update! I was actually thinking of discontinuing the story cos I have so little reviews...:(**

**So... PLEASE PLEASE try to review if you have the time... And thanks, if you reviewed!**

**-livingthelife37**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter SIX

Piper gripped her Cornucopia tightly as she focused on the vial. "I hope there's enough sample…" she muttered under her breath. A light bulb went off in my head.

"So you're going to make that horn spew the potion?" I asked incredulously. Piper grinned and nodded. I gawked at the horn. It wasn't that large and was surprisingly light. The hole in its centre was just enough to fit two mice. Was there _anything _her Cornucopia couldn't summon? All of us grew excited.

But as usual, Annabeth was the only one with logic.

"Fine, so we're able to get plenty of the potions. So what?" She crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows. "New York City is _huge._ Are we seriously resorting to door-to-door service? Maybe we should drop by the studios and shoot our very own advertisements." She added sarcastically, "And maybe we'll earn a million bucks for that."

My soaring hopes shattered instantly. Why was logic destroying everything _again_? However, Annabeth _was_ the most level-headed of us despite the fact that she never attended real school like me. This time, she was right. But Piper had an answer to that.

"Well, you see, after I gave the potion to my dad, I did some reading on it, okay? This memory-erasing mixture will work as long as it's in your _system._" Annabeth frowned, then her stormy grey eyes cleared and widened.

"So that means…" Annabeth murmured. "That the potion doesn't _only_ have to be drunk to work," Piper finished.

"Does inhaling it count?" Leo questioned, scratching his head. I almost burst out laughing at his clueless expression.

"Naturally, it's odourless. _But _if you inhale tiny droplets of it, that'll do the trick!" Piper exclaimed.

"Okay!" Leo said. "And, uh, how do we accomplish that exactly?"

"Jason."

Everyone turned to look at me.

"Jason," I repeated. "This has to do with air, right? If we could somehow disperse the liquid into the atmosphere, then everyone would inhale the potion and forget that they thought I was dead. So we need someone good with air and can manipulate it. And only the son of Zeus slash Jupiter can do _that._" I finished. Jason ran a hand through his wind-ruffled blond hair.

"Well, I can make air _support _someone. I've never really tried _manipulating _it. I don't know if I can do it," he said uncertainly. Piper placed a hand on her boyfriend's chest, comforting him. My eyes flitted subconsciously to Leo before I could register it. I really had to let this crush go!

Leo snorted. "Dude, my vocab sucks, but to me, manipulating air is controlling it, which doesn't make it any different from supporting someone with it," he told Jason. His best friend sighed.

"I'll see what I can do, then," he replied, looking more assured.

….

"Okay, Jason, we need to act fast," Piper said, her Cornucopia in her arms.

Leo had steered the _awesome_ ship back to my home so we were basically floating above New York, somewhere near the clouds, looking down at groups of mortals who probably thought we were an unusually large group of stationary birds who chose to rest while airborne. Or maybe just a seriously huge eagle.

I realised with a weird feeling that I would never know what Mom or Dad or Rose or Skye saw. I would know nothing but the truth forever. I would never be innocent.

"I will summon the potion. It will, um, shoot out with quite a force so you need to grab hold of the air as fast as you can," Piper instructed. "Well, actually, you need to be fast," she added. Jason looked anxious and worried as he nodded slowly.

I cheered the duo on in my head. Piper was the one who had thought of this great yet risky plan in the first place. But the chance of succeeding was either a hundred percent…or zero.

"Jason, you can do this. You ready?" Piper's grip on her horn tightened as she spoke through gritted teeth. Jason straightened his shoulders and focused, his brows pushing together slightly.

"Yes." He gripped the banister.

"On my count, okay? One… Two… Three!" Every muscle in Piper's body seemed to clench. She bit her bottom lip and stared right down below, at the flocks of mortals strolling by. And it happened.

A huge wave of pink-coloured liquid roared out of the horn. I watched, my jaw dropping open, as the liquid rushed out like a waterfall. The sun made the potion glint and for a moment I thought that the liquid was alive. The mixture curved into an arc. _Jason…_ I crossed my fingers. _Jason…! _I turned to stare at him. The potion was zipping downwards.

"_Jason!_" I yelled. All of a sudden, the wave ripped apart. My head snapped back to the centre of attention. Pink droplets dispatched from the huge group, flying in all directions. I watched as the potion settled easily in the air, reaching towards its creamy calm.

It faded. The job was done. They did it.

I pumped my fist in the air. My friends' faces lit up instantly. Piper threw her slender arms round Jason. "You did it! You really did it!" she laughed, holding him tight. Jason, though dazed and amazed at what he had done, smiled slowly. They must have been seriously elated because the joyful celebration turned into a mega-romantic event.

I stood there, feeling awkward, as the couples did their thing. I spotted Leo from my peripheral vision. He, too, was staring at all of them like an idiot. He caught me looking at him and cracked a smile.

Seconds later, we were bursting with laughter.

….

"Thanks, Piper!" I said and wrapped her in a hug after she and Jason had locked their lips. Piper smiled and shrugged my thanks away.

"It was nothing…" she said modestly. I snorted. How could she refer saving my life to nothing?

At that juncture, a thought slammed into me hard. If the mortals had the potion in their systems and they truly forgot what they were supposed to forget, then wouldn't it mean that my family was still expecting me to return home? My throat went dry.

"Guys, I…" I gulped as everyone turned to look at me. I hated to ruin the happy moment but this was something I had to say and had to do. "Look, you guys have been really nice and I owe you a bunch for getting me out of my predicament, but I need to go home." There, I said it.

Again, it was silence. Leo was the first to react.

"What the heck?" he spluttered. "You're leaving _now?_" There was something in his eyes. I realised with a jolt that he was _reluctant._ Annabeth broke the tension.

"You know something, Kim?" she began, studying me with her fierce eyes. "Ever since I met you on Chimera day, I recognized your courage. I don't know what it is yet, but there's definitely something special about you. I confirmed that when you thought of all those brilliant ideas. You're almost like a source of inspiration and with your ability to see through the Mist…" Her voice trailed off as she cocked her head. "We should let you go home, or it'd be selfish of us. But I need to know something. Would you want to come with us?"

I stared at her. A demigod was asking a mortal to follow her? That seemed impossible, but my thirst for adventure was unquenchable.

"It's a deal," I told her. "I'll make up an excuse for leaving the house for a while, and you can come to pick me up, I guess." My friends grinned at me. "Sounds like a plan," Annabeth smiled. "It's around two in the afternoon now. So, tomorrow morning, I'll send Leo over to pick you up. I hope you'll be ready by then."

If_ Leo _was picking me up, then I _had_ to be more than ready. I saw a tint of pink circling his cheeks and found another reason to smile.

This wasn't goodbye yet.

**Author's note: Hey all! Thanks for reading my story! Please remember to review!**

**-livingthelife37**


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